Thus, Hu Feng's divine consciousness passed through endless time and space, and countless timelines surged toward him like waves.
His consciousness, connected to the Titan Core, accepted them all. The countless possibilities of the World of Azeroth now lay before his eyes.
Hu Feng saw an Azeroth where he did not exist, scenes unfolding like a film. He saw the original destined history: Merith Winterwind, Alleria, the Windrunner Sisters, the rise and fall of the Night Elves, the rise and fall of humanity, Sargeras and his Burning Legion, the War of the Ancients, Suramar, Stormwind City, orcs, dwarves, Karazhan, and the Chromatic Dragons.
Everything in the world—what had been destroyed, what existed, what was about to be born, and what had yet to be born—their individual fates were all imprinted upon his memory.
But Hu Feng could not find his own timeline. This newborn Titan seemed beyond the control of fate. Everything he had done, and everyone connected to him, had all become part of a brand-new timeline, one that could not be glimpsed.
Those untouched by him and with no connection to him, however, continued to follow the destined course of events.
At that moment, Hu Feng understood much more, and felt much more at ease. If he vanished during the War of the Ancients and no longer influenced anyone, then this world would still continue developing according to its destined history.
But those he had changed, destroyed, or saved would exist upon a new timeline, eventually intersecting with one another to form a timeline belonging solely to Hu Feng.
Perhaps in Hu Feng's new timeline, some famous figures from the destined history would be born earlier, later, or might not appear at all. But Hu Feng was not too worried. With the destined timeline as a reference, he held a tremendous advantage.
Alleria and Merith were nearly driven mad with worry. Hu Feng seemed like a god, yet also like someone who did not exist in this world, flickering between brightness and darkness, transparency and solidity. Yellow sands that had appeared around him at some unknown point danced wildly through the air, while the ground around them behaved even more strangely, sprouting thick weeds one moment before instantly withering and rotting away the next.
Hu Feng's expression shifted constantly, smiling one moment, conflicted the next, then suddenly enraged. Finally, just as Alleria was shedding anxious tears and preparing to notify the others, Hu Feng's abnormal state came to an end. With a muffled groan, he dropped to his knees and panted heavily. Merith rushed forward in a single stride and carefully helped his teacher up. "Teacher? Teacher? How are you? What happened?"
Hu Feng panted and waved a hand at Merith. "I'm fine... Merith Winterwind, listen to me."
Merith did not know why Hu Feng suddenly wanted to speak to him, nor why he had called him by his full name, but he hurriedly nodded. "Teacher, speak."
"I permit you to continue studying fel energy and necromancy. But Merith Winterwind, you must swear to me that no matter how much time passes, you will never fall because of it. You will forever uphold your beliefs and forever... protect what you wish to protect."
Hu Feng looked at Merith with an unprecedentedly solemn expression. Merith froze for a moment. Thinking of his teacher's strange condition just now, he suddenly seemed to understand something.
"I, Merith Winterwind, swear to you—Divine Emissary of the God of Magic, my revered teacher Lord Hu Feng—that no matter how much time passes, I will never fall because of this. I will forever uphold my beliefs and forever protect what I wish to protect! Should I break this oath, let the gods bear witness: I shall fall into the abyss forever and suffer eternal torment!" Merith released Hu Feng and stood upright, practically roaring the words. A pillar of energy descended from the sky, and a purple Eye of Truth appeared on the back of Merith's hand, gleaming brightly. The oath had been sealed.
Alleria also helped Hu Feng up through her tears. "You lunatic! What exactly are you trying to do? Do you enjoy tormenting the feelings of people who worry about you that much?"
Hu Feng smiled at Alleria. "And you too, Allie. Now I'm even more certain that I was right. Compared to that destined one of yours, I think I'm more suitable." With that, he broke free from her support and stood on his own. Then, with a snap of his fingers, he teleported back to his private Mage Tower atop Suramar City.
Alleria wanted to pursue him and demand answers, but Merith stopped her. "Lady Alleria, don't ask any further. What lies behind this is no longer something you or I are qualified to know." Seeing Alleria glare fiercely at him, Merith hurriedly continued, "If I'm not mistaken, as a Divine Emissary, Teacher Hu Feng must have foreseen the future just now. The Titan God showed him each of our futures, perhaps even the fate of this world. That is not something we can pry into. Let it end here."
Hearing that, Alleria recalled what had just happened and became increasingly convinced by Merith's explanation. However...
"Hmph, that rogue actually called me Allie. Even if he saw the future, I won't forgive him!"
Merith chuckled and turned toward the Mage Corps encampment. "Compared to that, I personally think Lady Alleria should pay more attention to what Teacher said—that compared to your destined partner, Teacher himself is more suitable. Hahaha." Halfway there, Merith suddenly stopped and turned back. "Oh, my mistake. I shouldn't call you Lady Alleria. Mistress Alleria."
Magical fire arrows rained down on Merith like a storm. With a shriek, he raised an Ice Barrier and blinked dozens of meters away. "Ah, Mistress, please calm down. Your student shall take his leave first." With that, he blinked away repeatedly until he vanished from sight.
For the following few days, Hu Feng remained hidden within his Mage Tower in Suramar City, with no one seeing him and no one knowing what he was tinkering with. He only reappeared when the human and Elven Allied Forces were ready to depart.
Alleria stood behind him with a cold expression. Those familiar with Hu Feng instinctively moved farther away from him when they saw this. Dath'Remar, meanwhile, stared strangely at Hu Feng and Alleria. After pondering bitterly for a while, he wore an expression as though he had uncovered some hidden secret, nodding at the others with a knowing look. Seeing this, Hu Feng nearly wanted to rush over and tear apart Dath'Remar's handsome middle-aged face.
But something even worse came afterward. Once the oath-taking ceremony ended and the army began to march, Hu Feng took advantage of everyone's inattention to force a bizarrely shaped necklace into Alleria's hands. "Allie, wear this. It'll be good for you."
Alleria had wanted to refuse with a dark expression, but when Hu Feng saw that she would not accept it, he simply put it on her himself.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Lord Divine Emissary is unmatched in romance! I, Dath'Remar Sunstrider, am impressed!" Just then, a booming voice enhanced by magic rang throughout the three armies.
Hu Feng and Alleria both stared blankly, mechanically turning toward Dath'Remar, who was as excited as if his own dog had just given birth to a litter of puppies. He remained completely oblivious, still loudly recounting what he had just witnessed to the soldiers, until he suddenly transformed into a chubby little pig that kept whimpering.
Everyone turned to look at Hu Feng, whose face had darkened into an expression that seemed ready to devour someone. His Artifact Staff, "Origin of Divine Power, Azeroth Binder," was still pointed at the now-white pig that had once been Dath'Remar, gleaming with dangerous light.
"Did he say something just now?" Hu Feng asked darkly.
Everyone was horrified and shook their heads furiously. "No! No! It was too noisy just now, we didn't hear anything!"
Hu Feng nodded in satisfaction and resumed his kindly smile. "Merith, bring along this adorable little white pig. Let's continue."
The army continued onward.
After a while, Hu Feng sidled up to Alleria again. "Ah, I forgot to tell you because I got interrupted just now."
Alleria pretended not to hear him and turned her head to carefully examine the distant forest, as though dangerous enemies might be lurking inside. But then a pair of large hands clamped around her face and forcibly turned it back.
"Hey, listen to me! This necklace is called Destined Fate. When you suffer an attack that could seriously injure you, it has at least a fifty percent chance of helping you evade that attack. And when you attack, it has a thirty percent chance of strengthening that attack several times over and severely injuring your target. So? Good stuff, right?" Hu Feng said as he held Alleria's face and forced her to look at him.
"Let go!"
"Just say whether it's good stuff first!"
"Yes, let go!" someone hissed.
Hu Feng released her in satisfaction and smugly raised his chin at the elf lady, who rolled her eyes repeatedly.
After another while, Alleria asked gloomily, "Another artifact?"
"Ah, yes. I suppose it counts as one."
Alleria fell silent and continued keeping watch around Hu Feng.
Dath'Remar, finally freed from his transformation, also came over. He glanced sideways at Alleria's necklace, then at the longbow.
"Lord Divine Emissary, um... my son Anasterian has come of age as well. The poor boy only has a pair of epic-grade items on him, not a single legendary artifact. That truly brings shame upon the God of Magic, don't you think?"
Hu Feng also looked sideways at Dath'Remar. "What does that have to do with me? Go beg the God of Magic, then. I'm only the Divine Emissary. His divine reputation isn't mine to manage." Seeing Dath'Remar's crestfallen face and aggrieved little-wife expression, Hu Feng thought of the High Elves' original fate. "Fine, fine. Once we deal with the trolls and return, bring the Disintegration Staff to me. I'll modify and strengthen it for you. Consider it a gift from me to the High Elf Prince." Dath'Remar immediately looked thrilled.
Hu Feng returned to the extravagantly luxurious carriage the High Elves had prepared for him, but his thoughts were no longer in Quel'Thalas.
Originally, Hu Feng had intended to search for the hidden Deathwing, Neltharion, while he was in the Eastern Kingdoms, and bring him to Kalimdor. But after seeing the future, Hu Feng decided to change his plans.
After sensing Deathwing's location, he discovered that the fellow was quite clever, hiding in the deepest seabed beneath the Maelstrom at the center of the Endless Sea. The Maelstrom was where the Well of Eternity had exploded during the earth-shattering cataclysm of the War of the Ancients. It was now known as the Deeprock Isles, territory of various elemental creatures.
The remaining Four Great Dragons were all desperately searching for Deathwing and his Black Dragonflight. It would not be wise to have him reveal himself now.
The journey passed without incident, and a few days later, the human-elven army finally arrived before the Amani Trolls' stronghold: Zul'Aman.
Before you continue